‘Bird Box’ Seen By Nearly 26 Million U.S. Netflix Subscribers In Its First Week, Nielsen Reports

Nielsen has offered more data to back up Netflix’s assertion that its original movie Bird Box is the streaming giant’s biggest movie hit, reporting that nearly 26 million U.S. subscribers watched it in its first week.

Last week, Netflix offered a rare morsel of data about its programming, affirming that 45 million members globally had seen at least 70% of the film during its opening week, best of any of its original movies. Netflix last quarter reported 137 million members worldwide and 58 million in the U.S.

Nielsen said the biggest day for the thriller, which stars Sandra Bullock, was its eighth day, December 28. It drew an average minute audience of nearly 3.9 million, a testament to the film’s social media heat and the dynamic of the end-of-the-year holidays. With series titles, the streaming service has benefited from more people being able to Netflix and chill over the holidays, with Making a Murderer one prominent example.

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Viewership was close to the 4 million mark for the first 10 days of release, Nielsen said, describing the pattern as “extraordinarily consistent.”

For its first week, Bird Box put up the best opening-week numbers of any title Nielsen has measured except for the second season of Stranger Things, which edged it by less than 1 million viewers.

Another top draw on Netflix, the Will Smith sci-fi movie Bright, outdid Bird Box on its opening day, with 5.4 million viewers compared with 3.5 million. As the days went by, though, Bright faded, while Bird Box gained strength.